I decided to make these brownies again, coming up with a more accurate, delicious recipe of my own. I incorporated coconut flour this time. It was my first time using it, and now I see what everyone was talking about! It adds a sweet, light flavor to gluten-free baked goods and makes the consistency a bit smoother. Again I used agave instead of refined sugar. My toppings this time were chocolate chips on one side and a cut-up Snickers bar on the other (a straggler leftover from Halloween). I used more chocolate powder for an intense flavor. Although I liked this recipe better, the only thing I would change are the sweet potatoes used. I only hand the ones with the yellow inside; I think the ones with the orange flesh would make the consistency smoother. I’ve found they’re a bit sweeter as well. Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!

* If you do not have baking chocolate, you can use the unsweetened cocoa powder. To make your own dark chocolate like I did, mix 3 tbsp. of cocoa powder with 1 tbsp. of grapeseed oil. Melt them together in a double-boiler, then add the dark chocolate to the mashed potatoes.

2) After the potatoes and dark chocolate are combined, add in the wet ingredients: egg and egg whites, agave or honey, vanilla, and grapeseed oil. Mix by hand or with an electric mixer until thoroughly blended.

4) This batter was less lumpy than the first batch I made. It was sweeter and more consistent than the first one–the batter even tasted better! Add any toppings you want, sugar-free or not. ;p

5) Bake at 350 Fahrenheit / 175 Celsius for about 25-30 minutes. Check the center of the brownies by putting a clean knife in the middle. Mine cooked a bit faster than the first batch. Enjoy! Super yummy…

Tonight I experimented a little more with my new sugar-free ingredients. A good friend and fellow competitor of mine posted a picture of paleo brownies she made with sweet potatoes. Having just celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with my friends (I’m not a native Canadian–just an honorary one who happens to work with a lot of Canucks), I had half a bag of sweet potatoes left after making sweet potato casserole. (Sweet potato casserole was not a diet- or competition-friendly dish: it was loaded with brown sugar and marshmallows. CHEAT MEAL, BABY!!!) The chocolate craving hit me pretty hard today (stressful day at work, that time of the month, had an intense workout this morning), so I decided to test the recipe out. The brownies are not overly sweet. They are subtly sweet but have a good consistency. I found a recipe online but adapted it (as always) to the ingredients I had on hand.

1) Mash the sweet potatoes, either with a fork, mixer, or by pureeing them in a food processor. I used the bullet that I make my protein shakes in. As long as the potatoes are still warm after boiling, they should mash up nicely. I took the thicker parts of the skin off to make pureeing easier.

2) I transferred the sweet potato puree to a mixing bowl, then added the dry ingredients first (cocoa powder, almond flour, baking soda).

3) Next, I added the wet ingredients (eggs, agave, vanilla, and grapeseed oil). I stirred everything together until it had a somewhat smooth consistency. There were a few lumps and uneven spots in the batter. I hand-mixed the ingredients, alternating between a fork (to mash big lumps) and a rubber spatula. Don’t worry if there are still small lumps remaining; they’ll bake out.

4) Add any other ingredients that you want. You can see from the picture that I didn’t stick to an entirely sugar-free brownie: I added dark chocolate chips to the top. The coconut is unsweetened, however. To keep it sugar-free, you could substitute carob chips for chocolate chips–or just leave them out.

Transfer the brownie batter to an oiled baking dish (I used a small square 6×6 glass dish–this recipe only makes about 12 brownies). Pop it in the oven at about 350 Fahrenheit (I did almost 200 Celsius, which is a bit hotter). Bake for about 30 minutes or until the middle is cooked. I knew mine were done when the cocoa smell filled the house!

My brownies finished about an hour ago. I sampled them before remembering to document what I had baked, as you can see in the picture. They’re not bad for my first experience baking with sweet potatoes. The brownies could stand to be a bit sweeter, but they are very moist! I’m happy to have found an alternative to using gluten-free flour mixes.